Deshaun Watson and Colts DC Matt Eberflus talk after the game. Sarah Barshop of ESPN says two close losses to the Colts (and an OT loss to the Titans) shows the Texans may not require a long-term rebuild.
What were Texans QB Deshaun Watson and Colts DC Matt Eberflus talking about after the game?
By Mark Lane, TexansWire
Excerpt: Houston Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson dropped an interesting note in his postgame presser Sunday afternoon.
After the Indianapolis Colts vanquished the Texans 27-20 at Lucas Oil Stadium, Watson apparently had a conversion with Colts defensive coordinator Matt Eberflus.
What was the subject of their discussion? Just how the Colts defense was able to curtail the Texans’ offense, limiting them to exactly 20 points in both of their contests this season, two weeks apart.
“We play a team that we just played two weeks ago so we have to figure out what they’re doing differently,” Watson said. “They did a lot of different things differently. I talked to their DC afterwards and told him about it and he was like, ‘Yeah, that’s what we had to do. We had to switch up some different things.’
“Because that defense is a bend but don’t break defense. They play a lot of zone coverages and a lot of different things that they do — you know exactly what they’re going to do but today they wanted to try to mix it around and do some different things.”
Two close losses to Colts show Texans may not need long-term rebuild
By Sarah Barshop, ESPN
Excerpt: While there have been many moments in 2020 when the Houston Texans have looked like they have a long way to go before they are competing for AFC South titles again, going toe-to-toe twice against the Indianapolis Colts, a likely playoff team, shows they may not need a long-term rebuild.
Two weeks after losing the game after Deshaun Watson fumbled a low snap with the chance to take the lead, the Texans again lost to the Colts in a close game, falling 27-20 to drop to 4-10.
But despite the losing record and lack of resources for a quick improvement, the Texans’ performance in the division against two potential playoff teams (one-score losses to the Colts twice and an overtime loss to the Titans in October) shows they could be competing with them again in 2021.
The biggest reason is, of course, Watson, who again played well. He completed 33 of 41passes for 373 yards and two touchdowns. Watson has now thrown a single-season career high 27 touchdowns, which is the second-most passing touchdowns in a single season in franchise history.
The Texans have one more divisional test this season when they host the Tennessee Titans in Week 17, to see where they stand in the AFC South.